Drying machine



u. M ELROY DRYING MACHINE Mamh E7, H931.

Filed Jan. 10, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l 'H. [1. M ELROY DRYING MACHINEFiled Jail. 1'0

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mai. 1 1931' UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICEISAAC E. MCELROY, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, Assrenoa ro iin annsnnnaoCOMPANY, OF-MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A coaronnrxorr or MINNESOTA DRYINGMACHINE a lication filed January 10, 1929. Serial No. 331,544.

This invention relates to drying-machines especially adapted for dryinghuman air but capable of wide general use where efficient drying isrequired.

At the present time several hair driers are being used by beauty parlorsand the like, wherein a'fan is utilized in combination with a casing andheatingelements mounted therein to set up and heat a currefit of airianddirect the same about the scalp. it is desirable that such a machineshould.- produce a current of warm air which will be distributed evenlyabout the scalp in order that the hair may be quickly and uniformlydried. Most known devices have not been completely sue cessful because arapid swirling air current is produced at'the discharge end of the driersetting up a vacuum; or dead air space inthe' center of the air currentwhich materially detracts from the fast and uniform drying of the hairorvmateri'al. Most commercial machines sold at this time are moreoverexpensive to operate, cumbersome and the "free passa e of air throughthe casing is usually impeded because of obstructions within the casingor at the intake end thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple drier ofrelatively. few parts, which will quickly and efliciently dry the hair,obviating the obections above noted.

Another object is to provide a drying machine or blower which willsub-divide the swirling current of air set up by a fan, causing the airto be evenly distributed and eliminating the dead air space at thedelivery end of the drier or blower without retarding the speed of thedischarge.

Another object isto provide in a device of the class described, a casingthrough which a current of air is set up by a fan, and a dividingpartition disposed forwardly of the fan andextending longitudinallyofthe casing, adapted to break up and subdivide the swirling column ofair as it passes through the casing causing the same to be dischargedwith a substantially rectilinear movement, said partition moreoversupporting the heating elements in position to give a high'efliclenc'yfor heating the passing air.

Still another object is to provide an adustable confining and directingskirt for surrounding the scalp whereby the person treated may vary thedistribution of the heated lr as desired.

- Afiotherobject is toprovide a device of the class described, whereinthe entire casing may be quickly and easily adjusted both vertically andangularly, the u ward vertical adjustment of said casing eing possiblewithout lifting the casing.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description made in connection with the accompanyingdrawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar partsthroughout the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of {he invention inoperation for drying a Sea P;

- Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the drier casing taken longitudinallythereof; I

' Fig. 3 is a rear end View of the same;

I Fig. 4- is 'a cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; g Fig. 5is a detail section taken on the line 7 v5---5 of Fig. 1 illustratingthe structure and use of the confining and directing skirt;

Fig. 6 is an electrical diagram of the circuitsused in the drier; and vFig. 7 is a horizontal section takenlon 8 tudinally of a somewhatdifierent embo iment of the invention. j

In theembodiment of the invention illustrated, mydrier is adjustablysupported from any suitable u right standard, "which may 85 comprise ifdeslred a three-legged pedestal 8, mounted on castor wheels 9 andcarrying an elongated upright tube 10. 'As' illustrated, an elongatedcoiled spring 11 is disposed within the lower end oftubelO against asuit} 90 ing 16 preferably constructedofsome-sheet metal or some otherlight material and preferably 'o'f truncated conical shape taperingslightly from its rear to its forward end to concentrate to some extentthe delivery of air therefrom. The rear and enlarged end of casing 16 istelescoped about and rigidly secured to a suitable annular flange 17 aof a fan housing 17. Fan housing 17 is of general annular shape havingan open forward end and a reticulated rear or intake end. I prefer toconstruct fan housing 17 with a large circular aperture in the rearthereof, mounting over said aperture a grille structure 18,

which offers little impedance to the free flow of air therethrough. Arelatively smallmotor 19 is secured concentric to the rear side of thegrille 18 having its armatureshaft extending axially of fan housing 17and the casing 16 and provided with a suitable fan 20 disposedconcentrically and in the rearward portion of the housing 17.

Before housing 17 and casing 16 are assembled, a dividing multi-platepartition is first secured within casing 16. This partition, asillustrated, comprises a ilurality of radially arranged plates 21 suitaly secured together at their forward ends and each having a centralrecessed portion 21a adapted toaccommodate an electric lamp 2 2. Lam 22is supported from a suitable electric soc et and the plates 21' aresecured together in radlalarrangementby means of a spider 24,'hav1nginturned ears secured to the rear edges of the respective plates. Spider24 is clamped between electric socket 2'3 and a terminal. block 25. Theouter longitudinal edges of part1- tion plates 21 are turned to formengagement flanges 21?), the flanges of said. several plates beingproperly inclined to be compactly nested within the interior of thetruncated conical casing 16. Screws 26 passing through casing 16adjacent the rear end thereof may be used to rigidly secure thepartition in place against longitudinal or rotary displacement. Anaperture 210 is preferably formed in each of the plates 21 adjacent itsrear end and its outer edge and suitable insulatin blocks 27 are securedto the plates over sai apertures. A pair of spaced apertures 27a areformed through the insulating blocks 27 on three successive plates andthe insulating block on the fourth plate, as illustrated, is providedwith a pair of spaced'electrical terminals 28 extending from one sidethereof and a third electrical binding post 29 on the opposite side ofthe insulating block. A pair of electrical heating elements 30 and 31respectively are passed through the apertures in the several insulatingblocks and are held in rectangular spaced position thereby. One end ofeach element is secured to the binding post 29, while the opposite endsof elements 30 and 31 are secured to the two binding posts 28respectively." Thefanhousiifg 17 rigidly carries a depending switch boxhousing 17 b as shown, formed integrally therewith, wherein suitableswitches are housed for controlling the circuits through the motor, theelectric lamp and the heating elements. The circuits will be describedin detail later. A plate 17 0 covers the rear and open end of switch boxhousing 17 b and carries the switch levers 32a 33a and 34a which, asillustrated, are of the tumbler type.

A dome-shaped'hood 35 is secured to the forward end of casing 16 tiltedat an angle thereto and as shown an eflicient fitting connection is madebetween said members in the following manner Dome 35 is provided with alarge circular aperture leaving a circular flange of suficient diameterto just surround the forward end of casing16. The edge of said forwardend of casing 16 is pressed outwardly about the inner side of saidcircular flange, said pressing also bending the stock of casing 16inwardly on the outer side of the circular flange of dome 35. Dome 35 isthus rigidly connected to the forward end of the casing 16 withoutrequiring the use of fastening means or welding. v

A flexible skirt 36, preferably constructed of cloth may be removablyattached to the open end of dome 35 by suitable means, such as a cordhaving an elastic element 37 connecting the ends thereof, and the loweredge of skirt 36 may have a draw string 38 to bind the same to the headof the person to be treated. In Fig. 5, the detail construction of aconfining and directing skirt is shown, and a sprin spreader bail in theform of a thin strip 0 metal 39 loops downwardly having its ends turnedand releasably secured to an inturned flange at the lower edge of skirt36. The-person treated may, by manipulating the bail 39 cause heated airto be directed or concentrated upon different portions of the scalp.

Suitable service wires connect the fan, motor, the electric lamp socket,and the heating elements with the appropriate switches in the mannershown in the electrical diagram in Fig. 6. In said diagram the lineconduits are indicated by the numerals 40 and 41 respectively. The inputsides of the motor 19, the larger heating element 30 and the smallerheating element 31 are connected in multiple to a wire 42 and the masterswitch 32 is interposed between the line conduit 40 motor and the outputend of eating element 30'are connected directly to the line conduit 41by means of wires 43 and 44 respectively.

The output end of the smaller heating element 31 is connected by-a wire45 to one of the terminals of a switch 33, the other terminal of saidswitch being connected by a wire 46 to the lead wire 44 connected withthe line conduit 41. The input side of the electric terminal ofsaidswitch being directly connected to the line conduit 40 by means of awire 48. The output side of lamp 22 is connected by a wire 49 with ashort cross wire 50 connected with the line conduit 41.

It will thus'be seen that when master switch 32 is closed, assumingswitches 33 and 34 to be open, current will pass from the line conduit40 through the motor and through the larger heatin element back to theline. By closing switch 33 the smaller heating element 3 is connectedinlmultiple with the line and the switch 34 independently controls theillumination of electric lamp 22. Master switch 32, it will be seen, maybe swung to open the circuit through the smaller heating element as wellas the motor and the larger heating element.

Operation In operation, the heater being electrically connected with asuitable light socket or other household source of electricity, theappropriate switches are thrown to close cir.- cuits through the motorand the desired heating elements. The. person to be treated is seatedbelow the hood 35 of the device and casing 16 adjusted vertically toposition said hood about the top of the head. It will be seen that byslightly releasing set screw 13 coiled spring 11 having been slightlycompressed, the post 12 will bev easily lifted through the action ofsaid spring. The set screw may be again tightened when.the-de-' vice isin the desired position. For angular adjustment, the casing 16 may beswung on the bolt 15 which pivotally connects the bracket 14 with theattachment hea-d12a of the standard. Usually one of the confining anddirecting skirts 36 is employed yieldingly secured upon the rim of thehood 35 and the lower edge of said skirt is drawn and tied about thehead of the person to be treated.

As illustrated, bail 39 is connected with the lower edge of the skirt inorder that the skirt may be positioned differently with reference to thehead to permit air to escape at different parts of the head and to thusvary the concentration of the blast of warm air produced by the heater.v

The rapid rotation of thefan, of course, sets up a swift current of airthrough casing 16, the widelyreticulated intake end of the fan' housingoffering very little obstruction to the free passa e of air. Theswirling column of air moving orward into casing 16 from the fan housingis sub-divided by the several radial plates 21 of the longitudinallydisposed partition. The swirlingof the column of air is thus eliminatedby said' partition and is quickly heated by its passage through theheating elements moving substantially rectilinearly through casing 16and discharged about the scalp of the subject. The hood 35 acts as adeflector to more thoroughly distribute the warm air and the confiningskirt, if used, causes the air to pass downwardly about the sides,forward and rear portions of the head.

The dividing partition while eliminating the swirling movement of thecolumn of air does not retard the longitudinal passage of air throughthe casing. In other words, the air moves rectilinearly through thecasing 16 as fast, or slightly faster than if the dividing plates wereremoved from the drier. Since the swirling motion of the column of airis obviated, there will be a substantially uniform discharge of air intothe hood 35 and there willbe no vacuum or dead spot-in the center of themoving column.

The dividing partition" in addition to accomp'lishing "the importantfunction previously described, functions to conveniently support theheating elements in polygonal form and to also support and accommodatethe electric lamp axially of the casing 16, offering the minimumimpedance to the passage of air. Lamp 22 illuminates the interior of thedrier andmoreover radiates considerable heat within the casin In Fig. 7of the drawings: a slightly differ-.

ent embodiment of the invention is shown. Here a different type ofdividing partition, indicated by the numeral 51, is employed, being oftruncated conical structure and having two or more enlarged openings 51ain the body thereof. The edgesabout said openings form dividing plateswhich break up the swirling column of air causing considerable portiohsthereof to pass through casings 52 at the sides of the structure.Casings 52 have restricted discharge ends 52a inwardly curved andcommunicating with the interior of the hood 35. Air discharged throughpassages 52a is directed against the sides of the head 45 1ng arcuatelycut out portions medially of sary to operate mydevice is, therefore,greatly reduced.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arangoment and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of applicants invention.

IVhat is claimed is:

1. In a drying machine, a tubular casing, a fan within said casingadapted to set up a current of air therethrough, a discharge passage atone end of said casing, a confining and directing skirt of flexiblematerial connectable with said discharge passage and having a free edgeadapted to surround a human head, and a spreading bail connectable withthe free edge of said skirt at spaced points to enable the persontreated to adjust the position of the skirt with reference to the headto vary the concentration of the discharged am 2. In a drying machine, acasing having a discharge passage in the forward end thereof, a fandisposed within the rear portion of said casing, a partition disposedwithin said casing forwardly of said fan and comprising a plurality ofplates arranged radially with respect to said casing and extendinglongitudinally thereof, said plates each being substantially recessed attheir inner edges to conjointly provide a central aperture within saidpartition, an electrical socket supported from one end of said partitionand extending axially ofsaid casing, and a lamp mounted with insaidsocket and disposed within said central-aperture of the partition.

3. In a drying machine, a casing having an air discharge passage at theforward end thereof, a fan disposed within the rear portion of saidcasing, a partition within said casing disposed forwardly of said fancom? prising a series of plates arranged radially with respect to saidcasing and extending longitudinally thereof for directing the air insubstantially straight lines, said plates havtheir inner edges, said outout portions providing a central aperture within said partition, aspider frame secured to the rear edges of said several plates, anelectric socket se cured to said spider frame and extending axially ofsaid casing, an electric lamp secured to said socket and mounted withinsaid central aperture of the partition, and a heating element supportedin annular form by said partition. 1

4. In a hair drier, a tubular casing having an open forward endconstituting a discharge passage, a fan within the rear of said casingadapted to project air therethrough, a domeshaped hood of considerablygreater diame-. ter than-the diameter of the forward end of said casing,said hood having an apertured portion in the side thereof ofsubstantially the diameter of the forward end of said cas-

